Google Fiber's Next Stop May Be North Carolina

Little by little, Google is expanding its Google Fiber gigabit Internet service to more parts of the country, and the next lucky location is likely to be North Carolina. It's being reported that construction in North Carolina could start as early as April, presumably because it wouldn't be much fun to kick things off earlier and work in the winter months. That, and there's still plenty of planning and red tape to wade through.

Google is holding a pair of events next week in Raleigh and Durham. It hasn't said what those events are about, though it's expected the search giant will make an announcement regarding its high-speed plans at those time. In the meantime, a source tells WRAL TechWire" that Google is actively seeking bids to build a fiber network, and specifically is looking for "drill crews" to help lay the fiber.

Google Fiber is currently available in Kansas City, Kansas, Provo, Utah, and Austin, Texas. It has plans to expand to several other metro areas, which currently include Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville, San Antonio, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose, and Portland. Those nine additional metro areas would serve 34 cities.

That great thing about Google Fiber is that it's comparatively affordable. Pricing breaks down like this:

Gigabit + TV: $120/month ($300 construction fee waived)

Gigabit Internet: $70/month ($300 construction fee waived)

Speeds run up to 1Gbps for both upstream and downstream traffic. Alternately, in places where Google Fiber is available, Google offers a "Basic" tier consisting of 5Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream at no monthly cost, though it does require a $300 construction fee.